Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade Free To Play Welcome Guide

A Battle Plan for New Players In Eternal Crusade

With the impending swap to free to play, now’s a good time to get into the game. I’ve put over 100 hours into the game so far, and I’ve watched it come a long way. I’ve learned quite a bit from reading and talking to others. In addition, I’ve also learned what not to do, simply by watching other players ignore the existence of their teammates. This is very much a team oriented game, so you will benefit greatly by finding a friend and jumping into some kind of voice chat server with them.

Eternal Crusade Free Carnage Edition Rundown

First up, let’s break down the free to play restrictions. The Free Carnage Edition comes with two simple restrictions. XP gains are reduced to 1/3, and the air assault classes are locked. When you spend $20 in RTC (the premium currency), you fully unlock the game. No subscription fees, no recurring charges, just reasonably priced good fun. The game is totally worth $20 in its current state so you can’t go wrong either way.

Eternal Crusade Referral Code

Now that you’ve decided you’re ready lay the smack down on some xenos and heretic filth, it’s time to get a little boost. When you are first signing up for the game, make sure you have a referral code before creating your Eternal Crusade account. You can get these codes from friends that are already playing. If you don’t have a code, i’ll leave mine below. When you use a referral code, you get 4,000 RTC, and the person who gave you the code also gets 4,000 RTC. It’s generally enough to buy a piece of armor in game, or put a good chunk (20%) towards a weapon.

My Eternal Crusade Referral Code EC-TT99IHB9YYA5M

Preparation

When you jump in for the first time, you’ll notice multiple standard loadout templates. Some have AV (anti-vehicle) and some have AP (anti-personnel) next to their names. You will want to have a loadout for every occasion. This goes beyond infantry and vehicles too. For example, I find that I do better as melee against Eldar, so I have a jump assault build specifically for fighting Eldar. Whenever you find yourself in a match saying, “I wish I had an [insert weapon/class] right about now!” then that’s what you need to make a loadout for.

Currently when you are creating your character, just choose what you like. Colors, lore – it doesn’t matter. There are currently no benefits to choosing a particular chapter/sub-faction. Go with whatever compels you. If you accidentally create an Eldar, Ork, or Chaos, don’t worry. You can just delete them and re-roll Space Marine!

Teamwork OP

As I mentioned earlier, this is a very team oriented game. When you start jumping into matches, remember to be mindful of all players at all times. Not just the enemy players, but your teammates too. Don’t stop in the middle of a doorway. You block people from coming in, you block friendly fire from going out, and it’s just a bad place to stop. Step to the side and use the doorway as cover. If you want to be in the doorway, step back a few feet from it.

When you’re running towards, or away, from the enemy, be careful that someone else isn’t chasing that same enemy with a bolt gun. Be mindful of blocking allies’ shots because friendly fire isn’t!

Being the squad leader is kind of a big deal. Following squad leader’s objectives get you extra points. If you end up as the squad leader, don’t panic! Just pick the objective you want to attack or defend, mouseover it with your reticle, and hold down Q. This will let your squad know where you want them to be, AND you will all get bonus points from following your orders!

Don’t execute enemies when downed teammates are nearby. Pick up your allies first so they can start putting shots back downrange. The side with the most guns aimed at their enemy is the side with the advantage. You could even argue that you should never be executing enemies as it leaves you vulnerable. Let them die slowly to bring a little joy into the Emperor’s day!

Crawl to cover if you are downed. Staying out in the open makes you an easy target, and needlessly risks the life of someone trying to rescue you. Get behind a crate, wall, or even a vehicle so that both you and your rescuer will make it out of the situation alive and in one piece.

Parking as close as possible to objectives is usually a bad idea. Do your best to hide your transport vehicles, or park them somewhere that offers a little cover. Sometimes this means parking a little farther away than you’d like, but it still beats running all the way from another objective.

Reinforcements

Don’t drive off solo. It happens to me all the time. Someone spawns in a rhino, or jumps in after capturing an objective, and drives off. This leaves 2 or 3 of us behind while 1 person charges forward all alone to die at the next objective. Always check to see if someone is around to take with you before heading out in a vehicle. This speeds up the time it takes for reinforcements to arrive. In addition, both vehicles require one person to drive, and one to shoot. Having a gunner is always a plus.

If you need to get somewhere quick, you can swap squads if you don’t have a rhino to deploy to. You can then deploy to that squad’s rhino. Again, it’s all about speeding up reinforcements. The faster firepower returns to the front line, the sooner you can secure your objective. Alternately, you can always spawn a rhino for your team and bring it to where the fighting is.

Spoils of War

Each match will reward you with Advancement Points and Requisition. Advancement points are talent points, and you should make sure you are using them after each match. Spend all your advancement points first, then your loadout points. Advancement points will lower point costs of weapons, as well as make new weapons and equipment available. Not doing this will put you at a disadvantage in combat. This is min/maxing in its simplest form.

The second currency, requisition, is for you to spend in the store. You want to use your requisition for Supply Drops. Start with the 500 requisition tier, then the 3000, and so on. Work your way up after unlocking all the possible rewards from each tier. Once you have unlocked every reward, you will get a message letting you know. Don’t worry about wasting requisition like this. Each tier has unique weapons, mods, and visual skins. There are other items to buy for requisition as well. You can save up for these if you see something you like, but for the most part supply drops are most efficient unlocks at first.

More War Than You Can Shake A Power Fist At

There will be plenty of ups and downs as you navigate this grimdark universe. At 6AM EST on a Sunday morning, the game has over 1300 people! That’s without the full F2P launch. If you’re still not convinced enough to give the free carnage edition a try, you can check out my review of Eternal Crusade. The developers are quirky, but definitely seem like good people. The game has had a rocky start, but the last few patches have really improved balance in the game. I think the F2P transition is really going to have a huge impact for the better.